MXC Looks Ahead to NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional
11/14/2013 12:00:00 AM | Men's Cross Country
Nov. 14, 2013
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. - Youth continued to serve the Seton Hall men's cross country team well when the team last competed at the 2013 BIG EAST Championships as four of the Pirates' top-five finishers have been on campus for less than two full seasons.
At the front of the pack were freshmen Victor Ricci (Narragansett, R.I.) and Cameron Quisenberry (Owensboro, Ky.) who currently stand as the only two Pirates to score in all seven races this season.
Ricci and Quisenberry ran the two fastest 8K times that the team has posted this season. After finishing in 26:34, Ricci surpassed his previous team-best mark of 27:09.13 and led the squad for the fourth time this season. Quisenberry improved upon his previous personal-best by more than 30 seconds; clocking in at 27:10.
The freshmen duo has now finished in the squad's top-three on five occasions and recently detailed their first experiences at the conference meet, the team's progression and provided a look ahead to Friday's race.
The next Pirate across the line was sophomore Ryan Flannery (Forked River, N.J.) who also set an 8K personal record while finishing in the top-three on the squad at the conference championship for the second consecutive season. Flannery ranks among the Pirates' leaders with an average team finish just north of 2.5 and has placed in the squad's top-three in all six races in which he has scored after closing 2012 by placing among the fastest three competitors on the team in the final six races of the season.
He also stands at the team's top returning performer from a team that finished 22nd out of 25 schools at the Mid-Atlantic Regional a year ago.
Senior Carl Johnston (Surrey, British Columbia) and freshman Alex Mallue (Canton, Ohio) finished back-to-back to round out the Pirates' scoring group at the BIG EAST Championship last time out. Johnston ranked among the SHU top-four for the fourth consecutive outing and scored for the sixth time this season while Mallue earned his way into the team's top-five for the third time in his debut campaign; a ledger that includes scoring efforts at both championship races to this point in the year after he helped the team to an eighth-place finish at the Metropolitan Championships.
Another freshman in Sean Kip (Union, N.J.) crossed the line just outside the scoring group after finishing among the squad's top-five in the previous five races; a stretch highlighted by a team-leading run at the Metropolitan Championships.
Junior Tyler Orner (Sinking Spring, Pa.) placed seventh on the squad at the BIG EAST meet and is one of three returning scorers from the 2012 Regional along with Flannery and sophomore Jacob Bast (St. Louis, Mo.).
With a balanced lineup that features many runners rounding into form and coming off career-best times, The Hall will look to improve its standing against some of the top teams in the nation. Frontrunners Princeton are rated ahead of BIG EAST representatives Villanova (#2) and Georgetown (#3) in the most recent USTFCCCA regional poll despite the fact that the Wildcats are coming off a conference championship winning effort and the Hoyas have captured the last two regional crowns.
Both the Tigers (#15) and VU (#20) are rated among the top teams in the entire country.
Races are scheduled to begin at 10:00 a.m. Friday morning from Bethlehem, Pa.
